La Carmina is a Canadian blogger, author, journalist, and TV host. She specializes in Goth and Harajuku fashion and Japanese pop culture. She has been described by Qantas as "one of the best-known names in the blogging world, having authored three books and hosting travel segments for international television networks." She also appeared in one of the segments on the Tokyo episode of Bizarre Foods on Travel Channel.
Early years
La Carmina was born and raised in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Her parents are from Hong Kong. She attended Columbia University and graduated in three years. She then proceeded to Yale Law School, graduating with a JD.
Career
Fashion and travel blogging
In September 2007, she began her La Carmina blog about alternative and Gothic fashion, travel and subcultures in Japan and worldwide. She is a professional blogger, and her blog has been quoted in Boing Boing, Women's Wear Daily, and the New York Times.
La Carmina is a journalist for CNNGo, where she contributes articles about Asian pop culture. She is a travel journalist for Business Insider, and also writes for AOL/Huffington Post Travel, Fodor's Travel, Roadtrippers, as well as The Sunday Times and Hong Kong Express Magazine. In 2020, she won a Lowell Thomas travel journalism award from the Society of American Travel Writers.
She was selected as one of the world's top fashion bloggers to attend Luisa Via Roma's Firenze4Ever 2011 and 2012 events in Italy.
La Carmina describes her sense of fashion as "Morticia Addams meets Hello Kitty," drawing from a mix of alternative styles.
She has given speeches at IFB Conference at New York Fashion Week, Social Media Week in Hong Kong, PRSA Travel & Tourism Conference, and PechaKucha Tokyo. In 2020, she gave the first TEDx talk about goths.
In 2016, she was invited to the World Tourism Forum in Istanbul as one of the top travel influencers.
She won Auxiliary Magazine's Best Blog of 2016 award.
Television
La Carmina appeared in one of several segments on the Tokyo episode of Bizarre Foods, in which she and her friends dined with host Andrew Zimmern in a theme restaurant. According to Zimmern, the footage showcased the "exotic alternative lifestyles" of Tokyo and was originally intended for an episode of Bizarre World, but was later edited for inclusion in a Bizarre Foods episode instead, a process which refocused the segment onto the restaurant itself rather than the diners.
La Carmina's work as a travel and pop culture TV host on international networks includes Norway TV, CNNGo TV and a Canal+ France documentary about Japanese subcultures alongside Antoine de Caunes. Among her other hosting work includes shows for Food Network and Discovery Channel. She filmed with Discovery TV's Oddities, and did press trips to Maui, Berlin, Leipzig, and Prague to make travel videos. She has also hosted travel videos for the Mexico Tourism Board In 2011, she hosted, scripted, arranged, and field produced the show Coolhunting Weird Wisconsin for Huffington Post Travel TV. In the first episode, she gave a tour of Dodgeville theme hotel The Don Q Inn.
Japanese broadcaster NHK filmed a 20-minute documentary about her work in blogging and cooking. She was also the subject of an episode of NHK Kawaii TV.
She has been interviewed about Japanese and American theme cafes by ABC Nightline.
She has a travel video series published by Business Insider. Locations include Maldives, Israel, Bangkok, Mexico, Abu Dhabi, and more.
Alongside Henry Winkler and William Shatner, she appeared on an episode of NBC's Better Late Than Never.
La Carmina and the Pirates
La Carmina has a coolhunting, TV production, and promotion company that provides film fixing services to broadcasters worldwide. She was interviewed and featured in the Spanish book Coolhunting Digital.
La Carmina and the Pirates did the legwork for National Geographic Channel's Taboo episode documenting the body modification known as the bagel head – which she also hosted. She also hosted, translated, and arranged a show in Tokyo for National Geographic and Fuel TV. She appeared on CBS' The Doctors to speak about extreme body mods.